Talking-toy mechanism



April 24, 1928. 4 1,667,106

F. EVANS TALKING TOY MECHANISM 'Original Filed March'21. 1923 11vVENTOR. FRED Emmi.

Patented Apr. 24, 1928.

UNITED "STATES FRED EVANS,

{P AT ENT 'O FFICE... 1 OF SUMMIT NEw' JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGNMEI Q 'TS, TO VOICES INCORIPO BATED', A CORPQRATION OFIVDAELAWARE. 6

TALKING-TOY MECHANISM.

- Application filed March 21, 1923,.Seria1 No. 626,495. Renewed April28, 1925. l v

, This invention relates to sound producing devices, such as areordinarily used in toys, and has to do particularly with a device ofthis type for use in talking dolls.

The main object of this invention is to' 3, as Is more clearly shown 111Figure 2,'is a provide a sound .pro'du'cing device which may be cheaplyconstructed, ruggedenough to withstand the rough usage to whlch suchdevices are subjected, and which'will at the same time efliciently emita sound simulating the human voice.

Further and more specific objects, features.

and. advantages will more clearly appear from the detail descrlptiongiven below taken in connection with the accompanying sheet of drawingswhich forms a part of this specification.

In the accoinpanylng drawings wherein I have shown a preferred form ofembodiment of my invention:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation with parts broken away. V a 6Figure 2 is a detail cross-sectional view of the sound controllingelements,

lVith reference now to the drawings in which similar referencecharacters referto similar parts throughout the views thereof,

reference character 1 designates a tubular casing preferably constructedofheavy cardboard, fibre, or other like material.

Mounted within this case atone end theref of is a head 2 indicated indotted lines in Fi ure 1. Within the case intermediate its en 8,

is a second head 3, a guide rod 4 passing between these heads for apurpose-later to be described. The head 3 is channelled peripherally asat 5. a

Mounted on the head 3 isatubular bellows 6 suitably creased as indicatedat 7, the bellows 6 being attached to the head 3 by means of a wire ring8'which clamps the marginal edges of the bellows in the'bevelledchannel. At its upper end, the bellows is attached to a weight 9indicated in dotted lines in'Figure 1, and this weighted head-9 issuitably bored so as to permit the guide rod 4 to ex- I tendtherethrough, the aperture through which the rod passes beingacomparatively tight fit for the rod so as not to permit an undue escapeof air as the bellows is col-- lapsed. Attached to the weight at oneside of the rod is an operating rod 10,'this rod exoperation of thebellows.

tending downwardly and passing through a sultable aperture formed in thehead 3. f The .rod 10 is provided at its lower end with a aperture 13,which extends through the head 3. Projecting through the wall of thereed chamber 12 is a reed 14,0ne end of which'extends into an orificechamber 15. Mounted on a bolt 16 which extends through the wall ofthcorifice chamber is a control arm or valve 17 having at one end a slot18, in which the pin 11 rides. At its other end the control arm 17 isprovided with a plurality of apertures 19 and 19', which are positionedso as to register with an orifice 20 formed in the wall. of the chamber15 through which orifice or sound opening 20 the main body of sound fromthe. reed is adapted to issue, this sound being interrupted by the valveplate 17 so, that the sound opening 20 is first opened,

- i then closed and then opened again during one continuous movement ofthe valve and weighty head and during that movement whichcausesthe reedto be sounded by the It will alsobe noted that the valve plate 17 ispivoted with respect to the head 3 and so as to oscillate in a planeparallel with the line of movement of the weighty head. I f

It will be understood that'the sound producing device here indicated isfor use with toys, more especially dolls, in the bodies of which it isconcealed'and the operation for sound production is as follows:

When the doll'is in such a position that the various parts are disposedas indicated in Figure 1, it willbe seen that the bellows is distendedto its full'limit, In this position the weight is at the top of its pathdrawing the rod 10 therewith. This moves the control arm 17 on its pivotso that a blank portion of the arm overlies the orifice 20. So long asthe parts lie in a position of rest, no sound will be produced, but whenthe doll is displaced so as to lie, for instance, in the recliningposition, the weight 9wi1lmove downwardly'on the guide rod' i,

thereby collapsing the bellows and forcing the confined air through theaperture 14 into.

the reed chamber 12, then through the reed 14 into the orifice chamber15. It will be understood, of course, that the downward movement of theweight expelling the .air will, in turn, move the rod 10 downward,thereby swinging the control arm on the bolt 16 .a pivot. The expelledair pass ing through the reed and causing it to vibrate will be confinedmomentarily in the orifice chamber As the control valve swings, theaperture 19 will. register in a short time with orifice 20, thereby"permitting the air to be expelled from the orifice chamber.

It will he understood that when the ori fice chamber is closed, althoughair is forced therein through the reed, the reed, though caused tovibrate, will give a muflied sound. However, when aperture 19 andorifice 20 register, the reed will produce a clear note. As the weightcontinues to move downward- 1y, however, the blank portion of thecontrol valve between apertures 19 and 19 will in turn be moved over theorifice, thereby shutting. off the flow of air and momentarily mufilingthe reed. The weight continuing its descent, will continue to force airfrom the interior of the bellows and the control arm will move with asteady movement, the aperture 19' finally registering with the orifice,whereupon the reed will give off a second note which is discontinuedfinally by the blank portion of the control arm following the aperture19 registering with the orifice. This action, however, will not takeplace until the air has been practically entirely eX- pelled from thebellows. When the doll or .toy is moved to the reverse position so thatthe action of the weight will move so as to distend the bellows, airwill be drawn in through the apertures in the controlarmand the orificeinto the interior of the bellows. The air passing in this direction,however, forces the reed from its seat, thereby ,producing no sound.

Once the bellows is distended, the doll may be moved to another positionso as to cause the collapse of the bellows by gravity, whereupon thedevice will give off a second series of notes. Inasmuch as the controlarm is now designed so as to produce two distinct sounds asthe air isforced through the reed, the device will give off asound similar to thesyllables ma-ma, but it will be .understood that various other syllablesor com'binations on syllables may be produced by altering the form ofthe apertures in the control arm-and also their spacing.

It will be seen then that I have produced a simple and effective deviceby which the cry of a child may be closely imitated. 'There are but fewmoving parts subject to wear and the device is constructed so that theparts are protected and will readily stand the rough usage to whichdolls and other toys of this character are ordinarily subjected. Thedevice may be cheaply manufactured and put together with a minimum ofskilled labor thereby materially reducing its-cost, while providing asound-producing article well adapted for the purposes for which it isintended to be used.

As many changes could be made in this construction without departingfrom the scope of the following claims, it is intended that all. mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, the ,combination of a casingprovided with a pair of spaced heads, a bellows attached to one of saidheads, a weight attached to said bellows, a rod mova l'i'le with saidweight through the head to which said bellows is attached, a reedchamber in .con'nnunicaiion with the interior oi. said bellows. anorifice chamber having an orifice in its well. a reed in cmnn'ninicationwith the said reed chamber and the said orifice ehanibeiganda con trolarm pivoted to said reed chamber having one end thereof connected tosaid red, the other end being provided with a blank portion havingspaced apertures, .the said a1g crtures being arranged to be broughtsuccessively into registry withsaid orifice as said weight. causes thecollapse of said bellows. v

2. A. device of the class describ'echin combination a cylindrical casinghaving a head in one end and a second head intermediate said ends, abellows mounted on the inner face of one of said heads. a weight mountedon said bellows and movable to collapse the same, a rod attached to saidweightand .mov-

able through said head, a reed chamber mounted on the last named headand corn.

necting with the interiorol said bellows. an orifice chamber mounted onsaid head and into which said reed piojects...and a-control armpivotally mounted on said orifice cha1nher and having a portion adapted.to overlie .the same, saidportion also being provided with spacedapertures adapted to move suc-- cessively into registrg with saidorifice and said arm having a SGCOIl(lI;pOl'tlO11 adapted to be movedsaid rod; .whereby to swing said control arm to bring said aperturesinto registry with said orifice.

A device of the class described, comprising a casing provided with ahead mid- .way of its ends. a bellows attached to. one face thereof andhaving a weight mounted thereupoma ,rod attached to said weight ex-;tending through saidhead, sound producing means mounted on the otherface oi .said

head, an orifice chamber in communication with said'sound producingmeans, and a'pivoted sound control arm operable by saidrod and havingapertures adapted to be moved successively into registry with saidorifice as said weight moves to collapse said bellows.

its other end, a rod attached'to said wei ht extending through saidhead, sound proi ucing means including an outlet orifice mounted ontheother face of said head, and a pivotally mounted apertured controlarm overlying said orifice and operable by said rod as said bellowscollapses to open said orifice as said apertures come into registrytherewith. l I

5. A devlce of the class described comprising a cylindrical casinghaving a head intermediate its ends, a weighted bellows attached to oneface 'ofsaid head and having a rodattached to said weight and extendingthrough said head, sound producing means on the other face of said head,including'an outlet orifice, and apertured control means operable by themovement ofsaid rod as said weight causes the collapse of said bellows,the apertures in said control means being arranged to be brought by themovement of the said means'to register successively with the saidorifice.

6. In a device of the class described the combination of a tubularcasing, a head fixed therein, a head movable therein by gravity towardand from the fixed head,a bellows member having its ends secured to saidfixed heads respectively, a sounding reed fixed with respectto the fixedhead and sounded upon operation of the bellows by movement of themovable head. a guide rod fixed with respect to the fixed head and overwhich the movable head slides, a sound chamber into which the sound fromsaid reed issues, said sound chamber having an opening in one facethereof through which the sound.

is adapted to issue, and a valve member pivoted with respect to saidsound chamher and adapted to slide over the face of said opening tointerruptand control the emission ofsound therefrom, and meansconnecting said valve with the movable head whereby the valve isoperated by movement of said movable head with respect to the fixedhead.

7. In a device of the class described the combination of a bellowshaving two heads, one of which is weighted and is movable toward andfrom the other by gravity to compress and distend the bellows, asounding reed fixed with respect to one of said heads and adapted to besounded upon operation of the bellows, means having an opening throughwhich the main body of sound from the reed is adapted to issue, and avalve said opening, 'ing to cause said openlng to be opened a adapted toslide over the face of said opening, said valve being pivotally mountedand actuated responsive to relative 'movements of said heads, and saidvalve having means actin'g'to permit the said sound opening to beopened, then closed and then opened during one continuous movement ofthe'valve while the reed is sounding. a

8. In a device of "the class described, the

combination of a bellows having two heads,

a sounding reed fixed with respect to one of said heads and adapted tobe sounded upon operation of the bellows, means having an openingthrough which the main body of sound from the reed is adapted to issue,and a valve adapted to slide over the face of saidopening while the reedis sounding, said valve being pivotally mounted with respect to the headwith respect to which the reed is fixed and saidvalve having anapertured portion adapted to register with said opening.

9. In a device of the class described the combination of a bellowshaving two heads, a sounding reed fixed with respect to one of saidheads and adapted to be sounded upon operation of the bellows, meanshaving an opening through which the main body of sound from the reed isadapted to issue, and a valve adapted to slide over the face of saidvalve having means actplurality of times durin one continuous movementof the valve an bellows and said valve being pivotally mounted andactuated responsive to the operation of the bellows.

10. In a sound producing device, an air chamber having spaced heads, onemovable relative tothe other to expel air from said chamber, a soundingreed through which the air is expelled, means having an openingthroughwhich the main body of the sound is adapted to issue, a pivotallymounted valve plate positioned to oscillate over said opening in a planeparallel with the line of movement of the movable head and provided withmeans to effect an interrupted emission of the sound produced by saidreed, and means automatically causing the pivotal movement of said valveplate during the air expelling movement of the movable head.

1.1. In a sound producing device, an air chamber having spaced heads,one movable relative to the other to expel air from said chamber, asounding reed through which the air is expelled, means having an openingthrough which the main body of the sound from the reed is adapted toissue, a valve plate pivotally supported by one of said heads andpositioned to oscillate over said opening in a plane parallel with theline of movement of the movable head and controlling the sound from saidreed, and a member operatively engaged by said valve plate and causingthe pivotal movement thereof during the air expelling movement of saidmovable head.

12. In a device of the class described the combination of a bellowshaving two heads, a sounding reed fixed with respect to one of saidhead-s and adapted to. be sounded upon operation ot' the bellows, meanshaving an opening through which then'lain body ott=the sound :from thereed is adapted to issue, and a valve adapted to slide over the face ofsaid opening, saidvalve having a plurality of openings adapted .tosuccessively register with said opening and said valve being pivotallymounted, and means connected with respect to other head and actuatingsaid valvevabout its pivot while the reed is sounding due tothe'operation 0 1 the bellows.

13. In a device of the class described the combination of atubularcontainer, a tubular bellows therein, one end of which is fixedwith respect to the container, a 'weigl'ity movable head for the otherend of the bellows, and acting to operate the bellows by gravity, asound vreed operated by the bellows, an opening through which the mainbodyof sound from said reed is adapted to issue, a valve for controllingsaid opening, said valve being pivotally mounted with a espect to saidopening, and means acting to cause said valve to open the opening aplurality of .times during the sounding of the thereby, means having anopening through which the main bodysound from the reed is adapted toissue, a valve pivot-ally supported with respect to one 01" said heads,and positioned to oscillate over said opening in a plane substantiallyparallel with the line of movement ofthe movable head and controllingthe sound from said reed, and means automatically causing thepivotaln'iovement of said valve to interrupt the main body of sound fromthe reed during that movementor the weighty head which causes the reedto be sounded and whereby the reed emits a plurality of sounds duringone continuous movement of the valve and weighty head.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

FRED EVANS.

